Raymond Felton of Knicks arrested on gun charges

In what had been a nightmarish season already for the Knicks, they added legal troubles into the mix in the hours following Monday night’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden when point guard Raymond Felton turned himself in on felony weapons charges.

Felton, just a week after the story surfaced that he was served divorce papers by his wife of 19 months, Ariane Felton, was arrested and was to be arraigned Tuesday in Manhattan criminal court.

He faces three counts: second-degree and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon — which are felony charges — and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, police said. A conviction on the second-degree charge carries a minimum of 3 1/2 years in prison and a maximum of 15 years.

According to numerous reports, Felton’s wife turned in a semiautomatic gun that is allegedly owned by Felton, which had been left at her apartment - and a New York Daily News report claimed he waved the gun at her earlier this month while quarreling.

The Knicks had no statement yet on the arrest. An NBA official said, “The league is monitoring the situation.”

Felton spoke briefly about his personal troubles Friday after staying with the Knicks through the trade deadline - despite the team’s efforts to move him.

“It’s your life,” he said. “When you’re going through certain things in life it’s on your mind, no matter what. You try not to let it come into your job, into your workplace, but sometimes it does. You’re human and it’s a part of life. But at the same time, it is what it is. That’s my personal life though, I don’t want to discuss that part.”

According to reports, the gun, an FN Herstal, a Belgian weapon, was handed to the police loaded. Even without firing or threatening, the loaded weapon holds serious penalties in New York.

Benjamin Brafman, who represented Plaxico Burress when the then-Giants receiver accidentally discharged a firearm in a nightclub, shooting himself in the thigh, spoke on Sirius-XM Tuesday morning about the path that Felton faces.

“The next step is first appearance this morning before a judge,” Brafman said. “He’ll enter a plea of not guilty, bail will be set. Then it’s a question of what the facts are. Now, I don’t know how serious it is. There is the question of if it was ever used. The other issue is if it was lawfully purchased in another state. That’s not a legal defense in New York state, but it goes a long way to mitigation.”

Burress served two years in a plea bargain down from the 3 1/2-year mandatory minimum.

The 29-year-old Felton is on his second tour of duty with the Knicks, traded away in the deal that brought Carmelo Anthony to New York - and then returning to replace fan-favorite Jeremy Lin before the 2012-13 season.

After playing well in the Knicks' 54-win season last year, he struggled badly from the start of this season, absorbing much of the blame as the team struggled its way to a 21-36 record.